Bradford taking part in state program to evaluate kindergarten readiness

Wednesday

Mar 6, 2013 at 11:45 AM

One of 64 school districts in the state

The Bradford School District is one of 64 Illinois districts taking part in a new Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) program for evaluating children’s readiness for kindergarten.The pilot program will assess the school readiness of individual kindergarten students and identify gaps in development.The Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) pilot project aims to measure kindergarteners’ skills and knowledge, informing educators about the learning and developmental needs of students in preschool through the early primary grades.“Students enter kindergarten with varying ability levels and needs,” said State Superintendent of Education Christopher A. Koch. “KIDS will provide useful, age-appropriate information that will serve as a baseline for measuring students’ development and progress throughout their schooling. Ultimately, we hope KIDS can be another tool to ensure our youngest learners are getting the support and resources necessary to thrive and succeed.”The KIDS process promises to monitor growth and development over time, identify individual student’s strengths and generate more effective classroom instruction. KIDS also will provide school, district and state leaders with reliable data to make informed decisions about where resources and professional development are most needed.KIDS is not a test nor is it a one-time snapshot of a student’s readiness at one point in time. The process involves observing kindergarten students over time, within the context of typical activities, such as English language development, self and social development, self-regulation, language and literacy development, and mathematical development. Results and observations will be recorded three times over the course of the school year.The voluntary KIDS pilot program will run in phases before it is implemented statewide in 2015-16. Starting this school year, 64 districts volunteered to participate in the pilot and receive training on how to implement the survey. ISBE also recruited bilingual teachers to participate in a Spanish-language version of the KIDS process.Staff members from 64 school districts have undergone training. About half of these school districts are currently in the process of gathering data, including Oak Park Elementary School District 97.“Our district is excited to be among the first in the state to learn how to implement the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey,” said Dr. Al Roberts, Superintendent of Oak Park Elementary School District 97. “I am very proud of the work our teachers have already completed in conjunction with this important initiative and believe the data collected from the survey will help us evaluate student progress, close gaps in the readiness and development of our youngest learners and prepare our children for success both in and out of the classroom.”This year’s pilot focuses on helping teachers understand the survey process and gaining their feedback on how KIDS works, rather than collecting data.Eventually, all kindergarten teachers will be trained in the assessment. The following timeline outlines the goals for implementation:- 2012-13 – 5,000 kindergarten students- 2013-14 – 10,000 kindergarten students- 2014-15 – 30,000 kindergarten students- 2015-16 – Statewide implementation (about 150,000 kindergarten students)The Illinois State Board of Education established KIDS in collaboration with the KIDS Advisory Committee, comprised of ISBE administrators, early childhood and early elementary teachers and administrators, assessment and data experts and others interested in education. Through a competitive process, ISBE selected the California Department of Education’s (CDE) instruments, known as the Desired Results Developmental Profile, to use as part of the KIDS.